It's time to prune your deciduous fruit trees
Did you know that your fruit trees want you to prune them AND pruning them increases the health of the trees AND pruning them increases fruit production?
I have received a lot of questions and concerns about fruit tree pruning over this past week. I thought I'd share a couple of things about pruning fruit trees that might help to clarify and hopefully support you:
You might ask yourself why is the wintertime better for pruning deciduous fruit trees? Although you can prune fruit trees in the summer as well, right after their fruit season is complete, the benefits to pruning during the winter is that the leaves have fallen and now you can see the structure of the tree canopy without interference. Also by not pruning in the summer after fruit production, we are leaving branches with leaves intact on the tree is still able to achieve maximum photosynthesis and respiration.
If we are applying a dormant spray to our trees, once we have pruned our trees, we are needing to use less product since we have removed a substantial amount of surface area.
*a side note: dormant spray is a preventative application of a more concentrated mixing rate of either horticultural oil to kill overwintering insects, and the copper fungicide is used to kill the diseases. One application is sufficient. Reverence the UCIPM website for more information. For peach leaf curl, you will apply the copper fungicide 3 times, Thanksgiving, New Year's and Valentine's day.When we prune our deciduous fruit trees in the winter we increase the fruit production for that next fruit harvest.
What are fruit trees are best to prune now:
Pomes and some stone fruits - apples, pears, pluots, asian pears, peaches, nectarine, plums, quince, and crab apples.
Apricots, Apriums, Plumcots, and Cherries are pruned in the summer, right after fruit harvest, around August-ish, since they are susceptible to diseases when pruned in the cooler, wetter months of winter.
Grapes and cane berries also benefit with winter pruning.
Pruning fruit trees can be bring up a lot of uncertainty since each type requires slightly different pruning considerations. I encourage you to include a few really good fruit tree pruning books in your library, like the 'How to Prune Fruit Trees' book that I have pictured above. Join the many fruit tree pruning classes that local garden centers offer. Many events are scheduled now, so check it out. This is a great way also ask your questions. Watch a few tutorials on YouTube.
Most of all, be brave, take notes, see how to improve for next year and have fun!
So sharpen your shears and enjoy this beautiful day pruning your fruit trees.
Happy gardening!
~Suzanne